For the fighters of the killer Disease – A blog from Shivani on Dr Ghanashyam Biswas

I’m emailing, facebooking, tweeting, blogging and talking to anyone I connect, some feel I’m inconspicuous. Never mind, if I’m an outlier, I believe I’m on a mission to fight back, no, we must win the battle and war both!

Big deal? Yes.

Prevention is better than cure, absolutely. I urge, each one of us, please do a thorough preventive health check-ups, early detection certainly leads to successful treatment. As per WHO: “At least one-third of all cancer cases are preventable. Prevention offers the most cost-effective long-term strategy for the control of cancer.” Treatment includes various modalities viz. surgery, radio and other systematic therapies or a combination there of. Treatment depends on the diagnosis, stage and spread. Timely diagnosis and a comprehensive cost-benefit approach would be a guide to decision. “WHO Protocol” is widely accepted as the most successful treatment approach in case of this disease. (Ref:http://www.who.int/cancer/en/). Though the success depends on treatment, center and protocol, the most important of everything is palliative care, which is the absolute total care of patient’s mind, body and spirit. And not only that, it also includes standing by the family. Aim of a successful palliative care is to improve the quality of life of patient as well as families who witness the life threatening illness.

At this stage, I must share an information that I believe would help many of my Odia friends, families, who are fighting this battle. My family is blessed to have known Dr Ghanashyam Biswas, Odisha’s first super-specialist cancer specialist, who chose to serve people of Odisha being in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He sacrificed his rewarding future at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai to dedicate his medical career for the people of Odisha. I’ve personally witnessed the trouble that outsiders experience while in Tata Medical Center, Kolkata. The killer disease drags the family members to treat their loved ones at the best center. People drop everything just to be with their loved ones, to give the best care, but the logistics, managing self and the patient are not easy. Being an outsider, I’ve not only experienced but also witnessed the helplessness in everyone as the treatment is not short-term and new complications may surface as the course progresses. One can’t really assess how long one would need to stay out of home and livelihood. The painful struggle the people of Odisha go through while taking treatment for their loved ones outside Odisha wasn’t unnoticed by Dr Biswas. He decided to come back to Odisha and provide the world class treatment at arm’s length, being in Bhubaneswar, which became the aim of Sparsh Hospital & Critical Care, an ISO 9001 -2008 certified center in Bhubaneswar.

My family has been extremely benefited by the center’s best in class treatment technology, and most importantly the personalized palliative care. I’d like to strongly recommend this hospital and Dr Biswas’s treatment to the fighters and their families. To win the battle and the war, I believe this is God’s gift to Bhubaneswar and people of Odisha who are in the labyrinth of the life threatening disease. People could now avail the state-of-the art technology and fight back at much ease than travelling or relocating out of Bhubaneswar. While in TMC, I always felt the urge to help all those troubled fighters and their family members. I can never forget the bewildered looks and the helplessness. A strong sense of delivering support kept creeping in me and gradually became a determination, come what may, however big or small, I decided to help those fighters and their families. Instead of waiting for a big-bang to happen, I thought I at least could contribute in spreading the information through blogs/emails/tweets/facebook. Here comes the first foot forward.

Please spread the words, save lives, help fighters and their families!